Racing: Lessons Learned

Confidence in her training

Susan Loken just keeps getting faster. She won the 2005 USA Masters Marathon Championship in a PR 2:43:10 last October on a warm, humid day at Twin Cities. Three months later, the 42-year-old PRed again when she ran 2:41:31 at P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon in her hometown of Phoenix, AZ. Most recently, Loken ran 2:50:01 to defend her title at the More Marathon in New York City, a race where she had set a course record of 2:45:35 in 2005. What propels Loken to keep aiming higher and higher–and keep meeting her goals–at an age when most world-class runners have either retired from serious competition or at least accepted that their fastest performances are behind them?

Part of Loken’s success secret is simply her relative late start in running. Unlike most world-class competitors, she came to the sport late in life. "I’ve only been seriously competitive for a little more than three years," she explains, "so my legs still feel young." Loken has proven to be a fast learner in her short time at the front of the pack. One valuable lesson she’s learned is to believe in her training on race day. "At the races, I’ve learned to have confidence in my training," she says. "If my training indicates I’m capable of a higher level in competition, then I won’t hesitate to go for it."

Loken emphasizes, though, that for her, "going for it" isn’t going for broke, but rather a precisely calculated attempt to maximize her performance. It’s telling that her PR in the marathon—her specialty—has improved in small, gradual increments, and that’s fine with her. "I think I’m going to be able to keep improving in the marathon," she predicts. Her next goal is sub-2:39, the U.S. Olympic Trials "A" standard. "I think that’s within my grasp," she says.

And what of a race that doesn’t pan out as Loken would have hoped? "I never let it get me down," she says emphatically. "There are always going to be bad patches—always. I never let those discourage me—I just don’t." Loken’s preferred strategy for countering negative thoughts is to focus on all the hard training she’s logged. "I’ve trained too hard to let a bad patch in a race get me down. I take that negative thought—’This hurts,’ or ‘I’m slowing down’—and turn it around: ‘I trained really hard so I’d be ready for this.’ "

Loken also fully embraces the lesson that some competitors never seem to learn: Run your own race. For her, at this stage in her career, that means not being afraid to take scalps. "Because I’m improving, I’ll sometimes find myself running with people who used to beat me. When that happens, I just have to go back to believing in my training, and not think that I ‘shouldn’t’ be there."

Finally, Loken has learned to draw satisfaction from every race experience. "I try to be really happy with what I’ve done," she says, "even if it wasn’t my day. That’s so important in terms of getting back out there for the next one."